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I have doubts about the "do" auxiliary in questions, and its use, and what makes it mandatory.

  • Is it true that "How many XXX have you got?" is wrong?

And why do you have to put the auxiliary here, I'd like to see the grammar rule
(How many XXX do you have?)
Some people says it's okay, some, it's not.

It seems that, when you add something, it becomes "always correct".
How many kids have you got raised/have?

what's the difference, and what really make the auxiliary mandatory in one case, and not in the other one?
Do you really have to put "do" to connect "How many..." clause and "you have"?
What is the written rule in books.

  • Why can you say "Have you got XXX?" and "Do you have XXX"? What was the English language evolution?

Was the latter not correct in British English, and later became right in American English, or something like that? Or both had always been correct, and it's only a cultural preference.

Quidam
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1 Answers1

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In American English at least, it's standard to use an auxiliary in these questions, except if you invert the sentence:

How many children do you have? You have how many children?

How many house have you owned? (past) How many houses do you own? (present) How many houses do you have? (present)

I don't think usage differs from what the OP has given as examples in British English.

Out of all the common phrasings, people seem to avoid "got" because, I think, they are uncertain about tenses. Also, "got" and "gotten" can "sound" strange (Germanic? Informal?) to American ears. Except that, they are used in certain idiomatic phrases, such as "Have you gotten ahold of him?" meaning "Did you make contact with him?"

user8356
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  • It's grammatical to say "How many children have you?", but I think it's uncommon (to my American ears it sounds like a Britishism). – Barmar Oct 12 '19 at 00:45
  • Yes, indeed. "how many....have you?" sounds formal or "British" to my American ears also, even if perfectly grammatical. – user8356 Oct 14 '19 at 12:49